Some lawmakers call for stricter gun laws after shooting

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The demand for stricter gun laws is something we hear so often after any mass shooting.

Conversations on the issue are happening right now among Georgia lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

Some lawmakers blame Georgia’s gun laws for what happened yesterday. Others say this is more of a mental health issue than a gun one.

But either way about a dozen gun control and mental health bills were left on the table this last legislative session.

Democratic state representative Park Cannon, who represents the Midtown area, was just a mile from this facility when the shooting broke out yesterday.

Cannon said her bills on safe gun storage and red flag laws made no progress in the Republican-dominated state legislature this year.

Even a bill that would have hired more mental health workers and allowed for more studies of mental health in Georgia failed.

Georgia Democrats want stricter gun laws and a second look at the state’s healthcare system.

Republicans say this isn’t an issue of firearms. That mental health bill that failed–Bill 520–is still alive for the next legislative session.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.